2017 Building Diversity awards: Pacificmark Construction

Mark Matthews became interested in construction nearly 30 years ago when he helped rebuild his family home, which was a schoolhouse that had burned down in Hood River. “I was really going to school to be an architect and I ended up designing a little bit of this schoolhouse. I also helped build it and I really loved the construction part,” he said.

After working as a project manager for another construction company, Matthews decided it was time to start his own business. He and his wife, Deborah, founded Pacificmark Construction and serve as president and vice president, respectively.

When they started their business, they focused on residential remodels and some light commercial projects. Once they concentrated on the commercial market exclusively, they began winning public contracts performing interior renovations on city and county buildings as well as Port of Portland and TriMet projects.

Pacificmark Construction often partners with general contractors on large projects such as Randall Children’s Hospital. Deborah, who has a background in health care and management, said she enjoyed that project because of the health-care aspect. Pacificmark Construction continues to work as a prime general contractor on medical offices, public works and higher-education projects for clients such as Providence Health Services, Multnomah County and Portland Community College.

Pacificmark Construction partnered with Hoffman Construction on the PCC Cascade Student Union Building, taking on the largest project it had ever done before.

“We were the general contractor and Hoffman was the CM/GC. Hoffman shared its space in the job trailer and our project manager, office assistant, project superintendent and project engineer worked alongside Hoffman’s people and learned from their system,” Deborah said. “It really taught us how to create the system we needed in order to grow and complete large projects.”

A previous DJC Top Projects award winner, Pacificmark Construction was named the 2015 Construction Company of the Year by the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs.

Pacificmark Construction’s community involvement includes volunteering for the Oregon Tradeswomen Inc.’s Women in Trades Career Fair and the Oregon Food Bank. The company also was involved in the renovation of the Billy Webb Elks Lodge, which was built in the early 1900s and served as a YWCA for African-American soldiers, a place where black musicians could showcase their work and a safe haven for people fleeing the Vanport floods.